UI/UX Articles And Interesting Tidbits Of The Week
November//20//2020
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Teams Talent Distribution. Hailing from the Nielsen Norman Group this article focuses on surveys and analysis the institute has performed in order to assess the distribution and dissemination of UX Designers (and researchers) across product teams. It’s an insightful observation, since it also allows to witness the evolution of efforts, particularly as more Designers become embedded in the Product Design cycles. Well worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“When compared to historical data (our own study from 2007), the percent of resources allocated, whether that be staff or budget, continues to hover at around 10%. (The current estimate is 11%, but given the uncertainty of the estimate, we should not make much of the one percentage point difference.) There is a huge observed growth in the number of UX professionals in the world. The way to reconcile these two observations is the main growth in the field has come from ever-more countries, industries, and companies embracing UX. Companies that do zero UX are not represented in our surveys, so the numbers we report are not the average of all companies in the world, but the average for those companies that have some amount of recognized UX activities. If we had a way of estimating across all companies, including those that don’t care about UX and thus don’t answer UX surveys, then the ratios would be dramatically worse (dragged down by the many zero-UX companies) but would have improved over time (because there are fewer zero-UX every year.)”
2.
A Windows Timeline. As Windows celebrates its 35th anniversary, publication “The Verge” compiled this interesting timeline, chronicling the path that product has trailed, including milestones such as Windows 95, XP, Windows 8, among many others, with copious illustrations which shed further light on how that product has matured and evolved. It’s a testament to the ever evolving presence of an organization and product that has permeated the lives of so many users/consumers throughout the world. Highlight of the article includes:
“With Windows 1.0, Microsoft took the important step of focusing on apps and core software. IBM held onto the fundamentals of the PC architecture for a few years, but Microsoft made it easy for rivals and software developers to create apps, ensuring that Windows was relatively open and easy to reconfigure and tweak. PC manufacturers flocked to Windows, and the operating system attracted support from important software companies. This approach to providing software for hardware partners to sell their own machines created a huge platform for Microsoft. It’s a platform that allows you to upgrade through every version of Windows, as a classic YouTube clip demonstrates.”
3.
Fashion is Evolving. Very interesting article hailing from Fast Company on the topic of fashion, particularly Secondhand clothing. With all the issues affecting the Fashion universe, among them sustainability, the secondhand retail environment is increasing dramatically, with a heavy lift in that front being done by technology and the emergence of platforms which enable it for a variety of business owners. This article sheds light on two big trends, namely thrift stores and resale platforms, and how users’s habits are shifting, powering these emerging venues, in an industry that is now valued in the billions of dollars. Well worth a read (technology empowering emerging market trends and shaping behaviors). Highlight of the article includes:
“Our latest research supports this possibility. We interviewed young American women who regularly use digital platforms like Poshmark. They saw secondhand clothing as a way to access both cheap goods and ones they ordinarily could not afford. They did not see it as an alternative model of consumption or a way to decrease dependence on new clothing production. Whatever the consumer motive, increasing the reuse of clothing is a big step toward a new normal in the fashion industry, though its potential to address sustainability woes remains to be seen.”
